Planeside 3

[Ironsmith]

Marcie deliberately shrugs.
So someone is definitely committing terrible blasphemies. Possibly both of them. Probably both of them, from what she's seen and heard of this place.

"And where does her majesty keep imprisoned blasphemers, exactly?"

[Brefaisil]

Breonite looks at Marcie like she just asked what color the sky was. "...On my nightstand." She replies evenly.

Seth's eyes widen. "You tore out his heart?!"

"It's been the most reliable way to contain strigoi ever since the curse started." Breonite scowls. "And it seems less cruel than locking them on an oubliette somewhere. At least as it stands, they get nightly visitations and feedings."

Scorching Depths
"What is that?" Sekhmet asks, pointing out the puddle. It seems relevant... And gross. Also it's nice to see someone's been planting flowers. They aren't really normal to this environment. Also calling the ground floor really isn't right. It's ashy, dusty, earth. Not an ideal setting for a murder investigation.

[Scorching Depths]

Floor, dirt, footpath... whatever it is, there's red all over it.

And not just here, either. There's another puddle a few feet further ahead, about the same size. And one twice as big poking out from under a set of thorny bushes.

Identifying the substance visually might be difficult, but there are a few indicators. For starters, it's hot... not hot like the Depths are hot and it got heated as a result, hot like it's heated under its own power. Despite this, the fluid is eerily tranquil, at least until something disturbs it, at which point it will spatter and fizz violently. It also sticks to itself with the rough consistency of half-cooked pancake batter, so if Sekhmet is so inclined, she could pick it up and move it around... provided she doesn't mind its protestations, of course.

Now that it's been here a while, the hound will also be picking up the scent of a pair of demons nearby, hiding in the bushes further away from the path. Other than that, they haven't given away their presence yet, remaining perfectly still and silent. Whether the hound reveals them is its own perogative.

[Fenric]

Palace of Orochi
"No." Sekhmet is even more sure now than she was earlier, "I won't be another tyrant out to bolster her own power. If I am ousted, so be it, but I will do good in the meantime!" A power suffuses her, a hint of her true self, beautiful and terrible, a queen among demons. One might almost expect her to shout, "all shall love me, and despair!" but she doesn't. But she does clearly feel quite strongly about this.

Orochi smiles: there is a huge gulf between "firm rule" and "tyranny", but Sekhmet is showing her naiive youth and there is no point pressing the issue.

"Perhaps you will at that. I do wish you the best of sucess with your rule, but as your path is very different from mine I do not believe I can give you much further counsel on how to proceed.

Would you like some tea?"

[Rebonack]

[Sylvanas]

They're both in agreement that the name 'Yellowknife' is a weird name for a town.

Excellent.

Great that they're starting off with some common ground between them.

"What kind of idiot would use a weapon that kills everyone?" Magdalene asks, looking irritated that some moron would think that's a good idea. The hell was wrong with people, anyway?

Ugh.

People.

She'll bet that all the apocalypses back home were set off by people doing something stupid, too. That's usually how this stuff works. A person sticks their nose where it doesn't belong and now the planet is up to its arm-pits in zombies.

"Neh, anyway, so like I said this is Sylvanas. I dunno if you guys deal with lean winters but imagine that cold hungry feeling was a place that's also a god and that's where we are. And I'm a Thief," she explains, touching a hand to the glowing pink orb throbbing where her heart ought to be. "Stole a chunk of the Hart of the Forest right outta its (flowering) jaws without it getting its claws into my brain. That means I've got power enough to fight us out of here if it comes to it, but assuming we sneak and take it slow there probably won't be much fighting needed."

[Recaiden]

[Brefaisil]

Breonite looks at Marcie like she just asked what color the sky was. "...On my nightstand." She replies evenly.

Seth's eyes widen. "You tore out his heart?!"

"It's been the most reliable way to contain strigoi ever since the curse started." Breonite scowls. "And it seems less cruel than locking them on an oubliette somewhere. At least as it stands, they get nightly visitations and feedings."

Marcie looks at Breonite with a new appreciation.
"Well, I wouldn't presume to take something from the queen's nightstand, but I do need to talk to him."
"And I do wonder why the other clergy haven't found a replacement. Do they hope for his release still?"

[Prison Realm]

The door rattles, and the Hands of Justice start to swing their flails. They don't attack, just swinging in a threat and preparing to pounce if it looks like Kiun will open the cell door. My powers are limited. My energy reserves are finite, and whilst I have not used much in the time I have spent imprisoned, the systems I put in place to replenish my energies has fallen into disrepair and no longer works. I could grant godhood, or the other two gifts. All three would leave me totally depleted, and I would essentially die. Imprisonment is better than death.

((Didn't you say that the ones with flails went to visit the Weevil's cell, and it was the other two that came with Kiun?))

Kiun stretches out her wings, and an invisible force of magic tries to lift the Hands of Justice up from the walkway and levitate them out over the edge.
"Listen. You can hear somehow, right? Anyway, I know you have your purpose here, but you can't push me around."
Well, literally they can, but it upsets here.

The for a moment, she tilts her head in thought, considering what she was taught about friendship and love.
"Just the god-ness, then." Companionship is supposed to come from actual commonality and recognition, not deals with ominous magic skulls.
But gods are cheating anyway, so one may as well get them here as anywhere.

[bc56]

Palace of Orochi
Sekhmet calms down a little, her power retreats. "Oh, uh, tea would be nice." She sits back down.

Scorching Depths
The hound growls softly. Sekhmet places a hand on its shoulder and strokes its barbed flank. "There's someone else here? Get them." One who had been around long enough might see a little bit of Sapphira in Sekhmet in that moment, cool, confident, and utterly terrifying.
The hound snarls and tears across the ground towards the hidden fiends, mouth wide open and splattering lava in its path.

[Ironsmith]

[Brefaisil]

Marcie looks at Breonite with a new appreciation.
"Well, I wouldn't presume to take something from the queen's nightstand, but I do need to talk to him."
"And I do wonder why the other clergy haven't found a replacement. Do they hope for his release still?"

[Brefaisil]

"Likely not." Seth grumbles. "If I had to guess, I'd say nobody wants the job."

"Quite right." Breonite stiffens. "Any candidates for the position are faced with a choice. Uphold the indictment..."

"And be found a traitor."

"Or recant the indictment..."

"And join her in her blasphemy." Seth leans over to Marcie to explain. "If she wasn't Absum's enemy before, she certainly is now, since she's imprisoned or executed the pontiff, depending on your view."

Scorching Depths
The hound growls softly. Sekhmet places a hand on its shoulder and strokes its barbed flank. "There's someone else here? Get them." One who had been around long enough might see a little bit of Sapphira in Sekhmet in that moment, cool, confident, and utterly terrifying.
The hound snarls and tears across the ground towards the hidden fiends, mouth wide open and splattering lava in its path.

[Scorching Depths]

"Eeeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Squeel the terrified succubi as they jump out of the bush, hugging each other.

And then let out a collective sigh of relief when they see who has command of the hellhound.

And then tense up again where they realize just who has command of the hellhound.

"Your highness!"
"Sorry! So sorry! We thought you were those things!"
"They tore the others apart! I didn't know there was anything around here that could do that!"
"They would've gotten us if we weren't hiding here!"



[Oryza Biological Products]

Braeg saunters into the lobby, holding a wrapped gift under one arm and a boquet of sunflowers on the other. With his usual brand of arrogant confidence, he strides up to the receptionist, declaring with a grin, "Lord Braeg to see Lady Inari. At her soonest convenience, of course."

[Fenric]

Orochi nods and gestures to a servant who strides off purposefully.

"It will not be but a moment: there is always water boiling for some purpose or other.

It took my servants quite a long while for find a proper shadow analog for camilla, but we did finally manage to find a few varieties. I'm curious to know your opinion."

It is indeed not long at all before the servant returns leading a waiter with a tray. The delicate china teapot and cups are decorated with very standard looking patterns of plants and oriental buildings, and there is a plate of small cookies that would be more appetizing if they werent a neutral gray.

Shall I pour the tea, sire?

Orochi nods, and the waiter gracefully deposits a cup in front of Sekhmet then pours the tea into it from enough of a height to stir it well and release its armoa but without causing it to splash. The tea is fragrant and earthy, with a scent that is almost fruit like - recalling dates or figs.

He repeats the pour for Orochi, then sets the teapot down with hardly a sound and steps back quietly.

Orochi smiles to Sekhmet as he picks up his own cup.

"enjoy"

-----

[Oryza Biological Products]

The receptionist smiles

Welcome back, Lord Braeg. Synchronizing with Nexus sub-dimensional time.

There is a ripple in the air, though nothing really seems to change

The President is currently on the pathways in the back garden. She is accompanied by the Minister of the Left and while this is technically a political meeting I am quite cerrtain she would not only be undisturbed by an interruption but would quite welcome the chance to cut it short. I recommend exiting the main door and going around the outside of the building in anticlockwise fashion to completely dodge the two Jade Warriors standing at the back door. Then you will intercept her at the reflecting pond near the cafeteria.

What a conspiratorial receptionist.

[Ironsmith]

[Oryza Biological Products]

Braeg smirks and hands the receptionist one of the sunflowers. "You're a pearl, miss." He says gratefully, turning and walking out the way he came in to follow her directions out to the reflecting pond.

[Fenric]

The receptionist smiles and takes the flower, which she puts in a small vase that hadn't been there a moment earlier.

The path around the building is wide and smooth. The blue-green office building windows are one-way mirrored and he can't see inside, but in all honestly it's an office building so even if he makes an effort to see past the mirror effect there's nothing interesting to see except the lobby. The exterior is planted much as any office campus anywhere, with mostly grass and the occasional tree or planting bed arranged by someone with more AutoCad experience than actual landscape design knowledge... until Braeg comes around to the halfway point.

The front of the building is as generic as you get. The back, however, is a breathtakingly, awe inspiringly, record settingly beautiful garden with a staggering variety of plants in planting beds that clearly have their own magically-maintained micro environments. In many places there is the nearly painful visual distortion that says the filters that allow 3-dimensional Braeg to perceive this 6-dimensional world at all are having trouble translating what he is looking at.

But on a path that simultaneously seems to be only a step away but also on the other side of a broad valley he can see someone who must be Inari in a very elaborate maroon court kimono walking with a tall someone in a set of green and gold robes that can only be described as completely excessive. How they can even walk with that much silk defies the imagination, yet the robes kick out in the unmistakable motions of walking.

They are heading off to the right, toward a pond that Braeg should easily be able to beat them to.

[Ironsmith]

Braeg never really appreciated that kind of opulence. Sure, fancy robes looked nice, but every superfluous detail was one more way they could be ruined. Even as a Lord himself, he much preferred practical wear, like his green wool traveling cloak. It would last longer and he was all the magnificence he needed.

Internal editorial aside, Braeg does indeed simply move on ahead to the reflection pond, stowing the gifts under his cloak and taking up a position in a nearby tree, rolling around an apple that was totally on his person the whole time between his hands, seemingly lost in thought. When Inari and the minister arrive, he gives them a cheeky little wave.

[Fenric]

Inari and the Minister arrive at the pond, the Minister pontificating away in a tone of voice that could make most anyone dislike him instantly. For her part, Inari looks exceedingly tired of his company, but brightens at seeing Braeg

Lord Braeg! You're here already! I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting.

The Minister looks at Braeg, reading his entire history like a book. The power of his aura makes Inari seem like a young child in comparison: second greatest ruler in the entire Celestial Bureaucracy... and he clearly knows it. He turns to the goddess, not buying for even a moment that she had been expecting Braeg.

Hm. I take it this is the much rumored fiendling lord? The one you have spent seventeen and twenty three sixty eighths quadrillion energy units on ... and counting? A fascinating choice, even for you... but here he is, come to rescue you from a tedious old man.

then he looks again at Braeg

Greetings, Lord Braeg of the erstwhile Lesser Wood.

[Recaiden]

[Brefaisil]

"Likely not." Seth grumbles. "If I had to guess, I'd say nobody wants the job."

"Quite right." Breonite stiffens. "Any candidates for the position are faced with a choice. Uphold the indictment..."

"And be found a traitor."

"Or recant the indictment..."

"And join her in her blasphemy." Seth leans over to Marcie to explain. "If she wasn't Absum's enemy before, she certainly is now, since she's imprisoned or executed the pontiff, depending on your view."

So the queen is certainly able to keep the clergy in check. Good to know.

"Are you quite sure that Absum is upset about his representative, Seth?"
"It doesn't reflect well on them if they're too afraid to act."
But if he does, Ardanach is likely the best point of contact."

Marcie is fairly sure she'll need the queen's help to confer with a disembodied heart.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
"It's okay, uh, you're with us, you're safe now." Sekhmet tries to reassure the succubi, calling off the hellhound. "What were they? Uh, where did they go? What did they, uh... Do?"

Palace of Orochi
Sekhmet takes a sip of the tea. "This is very good. Uh, thank you." She pauses, then asks, "Were you, uh, always a, uh, giant dragon or did that, uh, come with the position? Because I look different, uh, now that I'm queen, than I did before."

[Ironsmith]

Inari and the Minister arrive at the pond, the Minister pontificating away in a tone of voice that could make most anyone dislike him instantly. For her part, Inari looks exceedingly tired of his company, but brightens at seeing Braeg

Lord Braeg! You're here already! I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting.

The Minister looks at Braeg, reading his entire history like a book. The power of his aura makes Inari seem like a young child in comparison: second greatest ruler in the entire Celestial Bureaucracy... and he clearly knows it. He turns to the goddess, not buying for even a moment that she had been expecting Braeg.

Hm. I take it this is the much rumored fiendling lord? The one you have spent seventeen and twenty three sixty eighths quadrillion energy units on ... and counting? A fascinating choice, even for you... but here he is, come to rescue you from a tedious old man.

then he looks again at Braeg

Greetings, Lord Braeg of the erstwhile Lesser Wood.

[Oryza Biological Products]

Braeg chuckles as a little musical sting rings out from nowhere. "Nobody expects the fiendish imposition!" He slips down from the tree and tosses the apple over his shoulder, though it vanishes from reality before it touches the ground.

When the minister goes to look in on Braeg's life story, he's going to find quite a bit of confusion. Granted, he only has a few thousand years to flip through, but most of them aren't Braeg's... as made abundantly clear when those histories end with the fiendling standing over them, holding their heart in his hand. There's also a gigantic dark spot in there; something he's tried to block out from prying eyes, and seems to have succeeded at, for the most part.

"I just came to the realization that our first date went rather... erroneously." He begins, addressing Inari with a little smile. "So I came to ask it we could make a second attempt." As he says this, he reaches under his cloak and produces the boquet of sunflowers, offering them to the goddess.

"Oh, but where are my manners?" Braeg turns to the minister and gives a deep, flourish-heavy bow, the kind that indicates he's not being at all serious. "You must be the much-vaunted minister of the Left, then, yes? Pleasure to meet you."

[Brefaisil]

So the queen is certainly able to keep the clergy in check. Good to know.

"Are you quite sure that Absum is upset about his representative, Seth?"
"It doesn't reflect well on them if they're too afraid to act."
But if he does, Ardanach is likely the best point of contact."

Marcie is fairly sure she'll need the queen's help to confer with a disembodied heart.

[Brefaisil]

"And as I said, he abused his position." Breonite adds sourly. "Which would, by its very definition, be contrary to Absum's teachings. Were I the gambling sort, I would bet on his approval, if anything."

Seth falls silent and just glares at the queen.

Breonite nods toward Marcie, then the exit. "Off you go, then. I trust you remember where my chambers are?"

Scorching Depths
"It's okay, uh, you're with us, you're safe now." Sekhmet tries to reassure the succubi, calling off the hellhound. "What were they? Uh, where did they go? What did they, uh... Do?"

[Scorching Depths]

"I don't know what they were, exactly..."
"But they looked like these two hollow suits with big metal claws..."
"They cut through the other succubi here like... like hot knives through butter."
"Literally. They sort of... melted."
"Then they bottled up most of what was left and flew out that way." The succubus points away from the palace grounds and out into the Depths themselves.

[Fenric]

[Palace of Orochi]

Orochi smiles broadly

"Oh, wonderful! I am so glad you like it."

He finishes his own cup, then chuckles

"I changed as king, but it was the ability to take on the form you see now. I was born the great eight-headed dragon, created by my mother Izanagi as part of her feud with her ex-husband Izanami. Many of the stories about me are absolute slander, to be quite frank, but I did carry the ill-fated sword for my mother and my original mortal life came to an end thanks to Izanami.

he coughs softly

"who was helped more than a little by a bit of a drinking problem I had back then."

----

[Oryza Biological Products]

The Minister is not curious enough to push the issue, and smirks as Inari takes the flowers from Braeg. He returns the bow at a very tiny angle.

Such a bold young man... so fierce, so proud. And yet musical... I take it back, my lady: he is precisely the sort you tend to favor.

Enjoy your time with the goddess, young Braeg. Perhaps you can solve the mystery that has plagued her for so very long.

He turns to leave

Assuming you survive, of course. But you do seem to have a better than usual chance at that.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
"Euurgh, that's..." Really disturbing. "Can someone gather, uh, what's left of them and see if there's anything that can be done?" Fiends can come back from a lot. "Can you follow them?" The hellhound nods. "Once you find a trail, uh, we'll go hunting." Excited at the prospect of a hunt, the hound begins sniffing for the trail of the attacking fiends.

Palace of Orochi
"I, uh, haven't heard any stories about you." Sekhmet responds. For someone named after a goddess, her knowledge of mythology is pretty lacking.

[Recaiden]

[Brefaisil]

"And as I said, he abused his position." Breonite adds sourly. "Which would, by its very definition, be contrary to Absum's teachings. Were I the gambling sort, I would bet on his approval, if anything."

Seth falls silent and just glares at the queen.

Breonite nods toward Marcie, then the exit. "Off you go, then. I trust you remember where my chambers are?"

"Yes, I remember."
Marcie walks right back the way they came, hesitating only to make sure that Seth isn't staying behind (to argue with the queen after all, or something).
Then, over to the nightstand. The queen had quite a collection of hearts earlier, but it seems this one is set aside?

[Ironsmith]

[Oryza Biological Products]

The Minister is not curious enough to push the issue, and smirks as Inari takes the flowers from Braeg. He returns the bow at a very tiny angle.

Such a bold young man... so fierce, so proud. And yet musical... I take it back, my lady: he is precisely the sort you tend to favor.

Enjoy your time with the goddess, young Braeg. Perhaps you can solve the mystery that has plagued her for so very long.

He turns to leave

Assuming you survive, of course. But you do seem to have a better than usual chance at that.

[Oryza Biological Products]

"Well, if that isn't the truth." Braeg chuckles and leaves the minister to his business, offering his arm to Inari. "Now, then... where shall we go? I think perhaps it's best if you pick this time. Less chance of stumbling into an apocalypse that way."

Scorching Depths
"Euurgh, that's..." Really disturbing. "Can someone gather, uh, what's left of them and see if there's anything that can be done?" Fiends can come back from a lot. "Can you follow them?" The hellhound nods. "Once you find a trail, uh, we'll go hunting." Excited at the prospect of a hunt, the hound begins sniffing for the trail of the attacking fiends.

[Scorching Depths]

If the hound can somehow track them while they're airborne, it'll quickly find itself by the bank of a lava river, where the trail will be buried under molten rock. The fiends definitely came here... but there's no easy way to tell where they left the river.

[Brefaisil]

"Yes, I remember."
Marcie walks right back the way they came, hesitating only to make sure that Seth isn't staying behind (to argue with the queen after all, or something).
Then, over to the nightstand. The queen had quite a collection of hearts earlier, but it seems this one is set aside?

[Brefaisil]

It's not.

Marcie will likely go through several hearts trying to find the one belonging to the Pontiff. Fortunately, she finds that identifying them isn't nearly as difficult as she might have at first believed; just by touching them, she can hear the thoughts(?) of the soul trapped inside.

GLORY! AND PAIN! BLOOD, IS OUR NAME! SOULS FULL OF THUNDER, HEARTS OF STEEL!

Not that one.

She doesn't believe me, she doesn't believe me, she doesn't believe me, she doesn't believe me...

Hopefully not that one.

No matter what else happens... you know I'm still proud of you. I'll always be proud of you. My sister, queen of the realm. Look how strong you became, and how quickly. We were wrong to hold you back.

...Okay, that's probably not the Pontiff.

Absum has spoken! Your actions have doomed us all! You have doomed us all! The end of days is upon us, and it's all because of YOU!

Bingo.

[Recaiden]

[Brefaisil]

Okay, one heart, then the next.
And before too long, one that certainly sounds like him. How many different doomsaying priests can have their hearts kept here? Hopefully just one, right?
Marcie reaches out to this one with her own thoughts. Hello, Pontiff Ardanach?

[Earl of Purple]

Sylvanas

"You drop a nuke from an aeroplane and it kills people a long way away from where you are, except those people are trying to drop their nukes on you. If you've got nukes and they've got nukes, theoretically you won't drop yours because if you do they'll drop theirs. It didn't work." She shrugs; it's ancient history, though something she's had to deal with all her life.

"There's basically been nothing but winter since the bombs dropped. It's why we need the heaters, keeping our hole in the ground warm enough to grow food." Also bedrooms and the infirmary and stuff, but really the food is most important. "Right, sneak, stay hidden. Got it."

Prison Realm

I did, I simply forgot and thought only one had left. This makes things trickier.

The Hand of Justice carrying the lamp-pole swings it at Kiun as it's lifted up, and the other snaps its fingers to try and dismiss the magic lifting both of them.

The skull can't do anything until Kiun opens the door.

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
The hound is a very good tracker. Not quite good enough to follow the twins through lava though. "We can't just leave those monsters free to target other succubi," Sekhmet voices her concern, "Suggestions? Any way to track them down?" She doesn't want to be leaving here empty-handed, especially given the high odds they'll be back to do... Whatever that is... To other succubi.

[Fenric]

Palace of Orochi
"I, uh, haven't heard any stories about you." Sekhmet responds. For someone named after a goddess, her knowledge of mythology is pretty lacking.

To be fair, Pop-culture mutilations of old Buddhist manglings of even older Shinto lore are a tiny bit esoteric. It's reasonable for someone who's origins stem from dark-ages catholic folk beliefs to not know about them

Orochi chuckles

"History is written by the victors, as the old saying goes, and I have managed to find myself on the 'not victorious' side twice now. So therefore in stories I am a terrible monster that demands a sacrifice of young maidens from poor innocent villages whom of course I promptly devour, when I'm not out cursing the entire countryside with disease, misery, and monsters!"

he snorts

"Fortunately for me, I am not a Kami who needs the belief and regard of mortals to have power, so the out of context, exaggerated, or outright lying myths and stories are nothing more than a lasting irritation and obnoxious reminder of past humiliations."

he motions to the waiter, who refills the teacups. Despite having sat a while, the tea is still steaming hot: the teapot clearly being enchanted.

[Oryza Biological Products]

"Well, if that isn't the truth." Braeg chuckles and leaves the minister to his business, offering his arm to Inari. "Now, then... where shall we go? I think perhaps it's best if you pick this time. Less chance of stumbling into an apocalypse that way."

Inari glares daggers at the departing Greater Power

Go off and enjoy your salacious gossip, you filthy old man.

then she glowers at the landscape in general

They enjoy rubbing their power in my face and acting like their dreadful, pedantic, pyramid-scam of an organization has any especial honor besides being the most powerful band of celestial thugs who get their way by force.

She fumes a moment more before closing her eyes and composing herself. With a wave of her hand the ornate maroon dress is replaced with her more usual grey suit and lab coat. After this, she gladly takes Braeg's proffered arm: still holding the bouquet.

Thank you.

She looks thoughtful (if still rather annoyed)

Somewhere, I think, they are not... Tell me, do you mind the cold?

[Ironsmith]

[Brefaisil]

Okay, one heart, then the next.
And before too long, one that certainly sounds like him. How many different doomsaying priests can have their hearts kept here? Hopefully just one, right?
Marcie reaches out to this one with her own thoughts. Hello, Pontiff Ardanach?

[Brefaisil]

I warned you, again and again and again, but you would not listen, and no-

...Wait a moment. You are not Breonite.

Forgive me. I have become a bit... intemperate, in my confinement. Yes, I am Pontiff Ardanach. Who are you, and how may I assist you?

Scorching Depths
The hound is a very good tracker. Not quite good enough to follow the twins through lava though. "We can't just leave those monsters free to target other succubi," Sekhmet voices her concern, "Suggestions? Any way to track them down?" She doesn't want to be leaving here empty-handed, especially given the high odds they'll be back to do... Whatever that is... To other succubi.

[Scorching Depths]

"Perhaps her highness could consider a lockdown." One of the guards suggests. "There's only so far they could have gone. We can keep the search area narrow that way."

"If you don't mind cutting off the palace from everywhere else." Another points out.

"Alternatively, if her highness has any idea where they may be going, it would be prudent to head them off."

The timing is crucial either way. If she waits too long, the fiends could slip away entirely.

Inari glares daggers at the departing Greater Power

Go off and enjoy your salacious gossip, you filthy old man.

then she glowers at the landscape in general

They enjoy rubbing their power in my face and acting like their dreadful, pedantic, pyramid-scam of an organization has any especial honor besides being the most powerful band of celestial thugs who get their way by force.

She fumes a moment more before closing her eyes and composing herself. With a wave of her hand the ornate maroon dress is replaced with her more usual grey suit and lab coat. After this, she gladly takes Braeg's proffered arm: still holding the bouquet.

Thank you.

She looks thoughtful (if still rather annoyed)

Somewhere, I think, they are not... Tell me, do you mind the cold?

[Oryza Biological Products]

Braeg raises an eyebrow at Inari's ringing endorsement of her superiors and their methods. Knowing she's discontent with her position here would certainly make for helpful information, but truthfully, the mere fact that she's willing to vent to him unprompted strikes him as the greater asset here. She was showing him no small amount of implicit trust.

"There is nowhere we could go where your presence would not warm me." Braeg replies with a smile, completely unabashed at the sappiness of the sentiment. "Ah, but seriously, a little cold doesn't bother me."

[Rebonack]

[Sylvanas]

Magdalene isn't sure what an aeroplane is, either, but she doesn't want to seem TOO stupid. From the context it's... what? Some kind of flying machine?

Her home world had made it to coal, steam, and early applications of electricity before civilization ended. No one had figured out how to make flying machines apart from hot air balloons yet.

Anyway!

Who cares about any of that stuff, right?

Those were all problems that the dead had to deal with.

"And when we get to the top of the forest don't look up," Magdalene warns as sternly as she can. "Or one of the dead gods might eat your mind."

She doesn't want to deal with the consequences of that again.

"You think you're good to move? Or you need some more time? I could probably find something for us to eat, but you would be here alone for a bit."

[bc56]

Scorching Depths
"First things first, uh, we need to make sure all the missing succubi are accounted for. If any of them are still alive, we don't want to trap them out here with those things." Sekhmet looks awkward and a little sick at the next thing she needs to say though. "How many, uh, remains were there?" Sekhmet asks the group she assigned to collect the remains of the murdered succubi.

[Ironsmith]

[Scorching Depths]

"Three." The guard replies. "Though considering the size of that one, I'd say it's two run together. Counting that, and the two luckiest slackers to ever exist-"

"Hey."

"-it seems everyone is accounted for, in some way or another." The guard finishes, trying her best to seem unperturbed by the grim scene in front of her.

[Fenric]

Inari smiles

Yes... but this isn't a little cold...

With a casual wave of her hand a circular portal opens up onto a wintry scene. Cold begins to leak through, causing mist to build up around the edges of the disk and frost forms on the grass.

I have territory on the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice that is not under their jurisdiction at all. Having finally settled my differences with the Lord of that place a short while ago, I'd like to go there.

[bc56]

Palace of Orochi
But Sekhmet doesn't even know the story of her own namesake besides "she's some sort of lion sun goddess in Egypt." So she's especially clueless.
"I, uh, know that feeling," Sekhmet sympathizes, "Even before I was, uh, queen, I had self-proclaimed heroes, uh, trying to kill me for the 'greater good' because I'm a demon." It's hard to be a pacifist when people keep trying to murder you. But she manages.

Scorching Depths
"Then we return to the palace. No one goes out until further notice, and no one comes in until those things have been found." Sekhmet strokes the hellhound again. "Sorry. We'll get that hunt in once we have a lead."

[Recaiden]

[Brefaisil]

I warned you, again and again and again, but you would not listen, and no-

...Wait a moment. You are not Breonite.

Forgive me. I have become a bit... intemperate, in my confinement. Yes, I am Pontiff Ardanach. Who are you, and how may I assist you?

I am Atorre Marcie, a visitor from another world, here to help. I need information. To start with, how exactly did Beonite doom the world?
Getting to the bottom of their disagreement would really help place everything else the two tell her.

Prison Realm

I did, I simply forgot and thought only one had left. This makes things trickier.

The Hand of Justice carrying the lamp-pole swings it at Kiun as it's lifted up, and the other snaps its fingers to try and dismiss the magic lifting both of them.

The skull can't do anything until Kiun opens the door.

Kiun jumps up, assisted by her wings, and passes over the swinging lamp pole.
Just a moment later, the Hand of Justice successfully stops the lifting and lets them back down to the walkway.
But she exerts the magic again, this time to open the door.

[Ironsmith]

Inari smiles

Yes... but this isn't a little cold...

With a casual wave of her hand a circular portal opens up onto a wintry scene. Cold begins to leak through, causing mist to build up around the edges of the disk and frost forms on the grass.

I have territory on the Para-Elemental Plane of Ice that is not under their jurisdiction at all. Having finally settled my differences with the Lord of that place a short while ago, I'd like to go there.

[Oryza Biological Products]

Braeg grins. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." He chuckles, stepping toward the portal and humming something about a winter wonderland.

Scorching Depths
"Then we return to the palace. No one goes out until further notice, and no one comes in until those things have been found." Sekhmet strokes the hellhound again. "Sorry. We'll get that hunt in once we have a lead."

[Scorching Depths]

The guard nods and gestures to the others. "You heard the queen! Move!"

The guards move to comply, and the succubi Sekhmet found surreptitiously try to go back into the palace, not wanting to be left out here for obvious reasons.

Soon afterwards, Sekhmet'll get another report from the lab, regarding the retrieved remains. At first, the techs are confused, thinking the queen has sent her four bottles of... some kind of negative emotion, they weren't sure what. Then, when the documentation gets all cleared up, they quickly confirm that, no, there's nothing to be done for these four ladies. They're gone.

[Brefaisil]

I am Atorre Marcie, a visitor from another world, here to help. I need information. To start with, how exactly did Beonite doom the world?
Getting to the bottom of their disagreement would really help place everything else the two tell her.

[Brefaisil]

She has angered Absum with her tyranny. The Pontiff explains. She enslaves our people in a never-ending tunnel system. She rules falsely, sullying the ill king's name with her deeds. She has imprisoned much of Maesda's nobility and driven the rest into hiding. She has done nothing about the fiendish incursions to the north, and she welcomes our enemies into Brefaisil. Cowardice and cruelty are not things Absum abides lightly, and with the king near death and no heir in sight, our last hours are upon us. Absum will unmake this world, to spare it any more pain.